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Tranmere Rovers v Oldham Athletic – League One

Prenton Park, Prenton, Birkenhead

Saturday 6th September 2008, 15:00 KO

We were aware that Tranmere Rovers had a pre-season match cancelled in July due to a flash flood making the playing surface unplayable. Therefore, with all the torrential rain in the previous 48 hours, there was uncertainty in my mind about whether today’s match would be played. After many abortive telephone calls to Tranmere Rovers to find out the prospects of play, Margaret and I decided to set off and risk a wasted journey.

We decided that if the match was off and we were the only ones present, we would return via Oldham in order to hand over the Flag in readiness for its trip to Croatia .After torrential rain on the A500 in Staffordshire, the sky cleared and we had an uneventful journey by car via the M6, M56 and M53.

It was raining in Birkenhead but only lightly. A steward took the customary photo of the Flag and he told us that although a pitch inspection was to take place at 12 noon, there was no likelihood of postponement unless there was a sudden cloudburst. I looked through the steward’s official match programme and was disappointed to find that my explanatory article about the Flag had not been included - the first time that a host club had not complied with my request for its inclusion.

We were outside the Villa Venezia Italian Restaurant, next to the Stadium, when it opened at 12 noon. We had arranged to meet up with Paul, who was travelling from Newport, South Wales. However flooding resulted in rail detours via Birmingham and Liverpool, made him arrive an hour late. Other diners included the Latics media team, who needed to ensure no rumbling stomachs when broadcasting their match commentary on the ‘Latics World’ subscription service. Before we left I reminded them not to leave their microphone switched on during half time, as had happened at Burnley.

After lunch we met Paul and other Latics supporters in The Mersey Clipper pub, behind the Main Stand. This pub is renowned for its attractive barmaids, and it was a pleasant surprise to find that not only had the pub been refurbished to do justice to the staff, but also instead of the awful brightly coloured plastic beakers in which drinks had been served previously, each drink was served in its appropriate glass. This was a major breakthrough for football fans to be treated the same as theatre-goers and opera-goers, instead of as some form of under-class.

Among the Latics supporters in the pub was Martin Thomas with ex-Latics player Will Haining. After the game they were joining other players for a night out, which Martin said would be their first without the late Ernie Cooksey. Ernie was with us in spirit again though, as the “One Ernie Cooksey” and “Ernie For England” chants reverberated around Prenton Park during the match.

Having bought our tickets in advance from Boundary Park, we were able to avoid the massive queues of supporters paying on the gate and join the Latics fans housed in a relatively new stand called the Cowshed. This single-tiered stand looks a little strange as one side of it has more rows than the other, giving a sloping effect.The nominated steward led me to the position allocated for the display of the Flag. I had requested in advance that the prominent position for its display be located where the Flag could be kept dry, because it had to be transported to Croatia . TRFC duly obliged and the flag had pride of place in an empty section of seats.

However, by the kick-of, the Flag had to be untied from the seating it was covering, in order that those seats could be used to accommodate Latics fans. I was unaware of this until I collected the flag at the end of the match. Our section of the stadium was capable of accommodating a maximum of 2,500, and therefore it was very surprising to discover that TRFC recorded the visiting fans’ total as 1524, and yet the seats covered by the Flag had necessitated being brought into use.

Playing against Tranmere Rovers in recent seasons has taken on an extra dimension, in view of Rovers manager Ronnie Moore having ceased to be the crowd’s favourite when manager of Latics. Ronnie was sacked and his son Ian Moore upset Oldham Athletic in the 2007/08 season when, on the verge of signing, he snubbed the Club by disappearing from Boundary Park without telling anyone and signed instead for the club managed by his father. Needless to say Ronnie and Ian, who came into the fray as a substitute, were the subject of many not-so-friendly chants from the Latics fans throughout the afternoon, many of whom like to ridicule Ronnie for his perceived use of route-one football. There were cries of “HOOF!” from the away end every time Tranmere played a long ball but, to Ronnie‘s credit, those cries were fewer than on all of the previous visits.

The absence of Tranmere defender Ian Goodison, who was away on World Cup duty, proved to be a bonus for Latics, who were weakened by the absence of Lee Hughes, who had been involved in nearly every one of this season’s League goals. Rovers had a poor record without their imposing centre-half, winning only two games out of ten in slightly longer than a season. Latics were chasing the game at the start, but imposed pressure, resulting in a free-kick executed with a training ground routine which seemed to fail, only for Neil Eardley to cross for defender Reuben Hazell to head Latics to the top of League One. Hazell had previously scored only five times in a 250-game career stretching back 10 years but, playing against one of his former clubs, his headed goal was enough to extend Latics’ unbeaten start to their League season.A great display by the Latics defence, with a master-class from captain Sean Gregan and crucial saves by Mark Crossley, sealed the victory.

The game was marred by heavy-handed and inconsistent referee Andy Hill, whose over fussiness produced ten yellow cards (six to Rovers) without one bad foul being committed. Latics boss John ‘Shez’ Sheridan was sent from the dugout to the stand. As we were driving home, Shez said on BBC Radio Manchester that he did not know why he had been sent off. He was only asking the referee to let the game flow more., but he admitted that perhaps he could have phrased his request in different language.The Rovers supporters celebrated in vain as thought they had equalised on 80 minutes, when Jennings bundled the ball home, but offside was given to the great delight of the Latics supporters, enhanced when Ian Moore was booked for his protest.At the end, the Latics supporters showed their appreciation for the performance to the players and manager, with Shez punching the air in return, before going off to have a drink with his friend Ronnie.

As we all basked in the reflected glory of our team still unbeaten and sitting proudly at the top of the League, we sang our way out of the stadium and I imagined that Ronnie and Ian Moore would be removing their earplugs in a disconsolate dressing room. Ronnie had come up against his old club five times since being sacked from Boundary Park, and he had been a loser on the last four occasions. Afterwards I was kicking myself for not starting the old favourite chant “Moore. Moore, Moore, how do you like it?” which did not get an airing during the afternoon. I must remember that one for the return fixture at Boundary Park.Latics supporters would be happy to play Tranmere Rovers every week - the Moore the merrier!